1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to an inverter apparatus and an electric vehicle having the same, and more particularly, to an inverter apparatus for cooling thermal radiation components as well as collecting heat, and an electric vehicle having the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
As is generally known, an inverter or inverter apparatus is an apparatus for converting direct-current power into high-frequency alternate-current power.
Such an inverter apparatus may be used in driving an induction heating apparatus or three-phase alternate-current motor for heating metal or the like using high-frequency power.
The inverter apparatus may include a case forming an accommodation space therein, and a circuit unit having a switching element disposed at an inner portion of the case to switch direct-current power to output high-frequency power.
Furthermore, the inverter apparatus may further include a cooling unit configured to dissipate and cool the heat generated by the circuit unit.
The cooling unit may further include a heat sink combined with the switching element to dissipate heat from the switching element.
On the other hand, in recent years, due to environmental pollution problems caused by the exhaust fumes of automobiles or vehicles, exhaustion of fossil fuels, and the like, the use of an electric vehicle or hybrid vehicle (hereinafter, also referred to as “electric vehicle”) using an electromotor (electric motor) as the power source of an automobile or vehicle has been increased.
The electric vehicle may include a battery for supplying power to the electromotor and an inverter apparatus for receiving direct-current power from the battery to convert it into alternate-current power and supply three-phase alternate-current power to the electromotor.
The electric vehicle may include a cooling cycle apparatus for cooling and/or heating the air inside a vehicle.
For the cooling cycle apparatus, there may be used a so-called vapor compression cooling cycle including a compressor for compressing refrigerant, a condenser for heat-dissipating and condensing the refrigerant, an expansion apparatus for decompressing and expanding the refrigerant, and an evaporator for allowing the refrigerant to absorb and evaporate ambient latent heat.
However, in such an electric vehicle in the related art, the heat generated inside the case of the inverter apparatus may be dissipated to the outside of the case, and thus it may not be preferable in the aspect of energy consumption.
In particular, in case of heating the inside of the vehicle using electric energy (for example, in the winter season), battery consumption may be greatly increased.
In the winter season when the inside of the vehicle is heated using electricity, the consumption of the battery may be greatly increased, thereby remarkably reducing the mileage of the vehicle.
In the winter season when the inside of the vehicle is heated using electricity, the battery should be frequently charged. However, such charging takes long time, which cause the vehicle to be unusable at a proper timing.